WIC Weekly February 5th 2023
Warsaw International Church
Mobile +48 601 331 032
Worship every Sunday at ul. Miodowa 21 (near Old Town) at 11:00 AM
Entrance from Schillera Street
Email: pastor@wic.org.pl
Website: http://www.wic.org.pl
WIC WEEKLY 05 FEBRUARY 2023 FROM PASTOR HARRY
Spiritual Nourishment
The Great Awakening of 1857-59 by Wesley L. Duewel
A quiet, zealous forty-six-year-old businessman in New York was appointed on July 1, 1857, as a missionary in downtown New York at the Dutch Church. Jeremiah Lamphier had been converted in 1842 in Broadway Tabernacle, Finney’s church that was built in 1836.
Lamphier felt led by God to start a noon-time weekly prayer meeting in which business people could meet for prayer. Anyone could attend, for a few minutes or for the entire hour. Prayers were to be comparatively brief. Lamphier’s group met on the third floor of the old North Dutch Reformed Church on Fulton Street in New York. Lamphier printed some handbills announcing the prayer meetings with the title, “How Often Should I Pray?” He left these in some offices and warehouses. He also put one on the door of the church on the street side.
The first day, September 23, 1857, Lamphier prayed alone for half an hour. But by the end of the hour, six men from at least four denominational backgrounds joined him. The next Wednesday there were twenty. On October 7 there were nearly forty. The meeting was so blessed that they decided to meet daily. One week later there were over one hundred present, including many unsaved who were convicted by the Holy Spirit of their sin.
Within one month pastors who had attended the noon prayer meetings in Fulton Street started morning prayer meetings in their own churches. Soon the places where the meetings were held were overcrowded. Men and women, young and old of all denominations met and prayed together without distinctions. The meetings abounded with love for Christ, love for fellow Christians, love for prayer, and love of witnessing. Those in attendance felt an awesome sense of God’s presence. They prayed for specific people, expected answers, and obtained answers.
Newspapers began to report on the meetings and the unusual spirit of prayer that was evident. Within three months similar meetings had sprung up across America. Thousands began praying in these services and in their own homes. In New York, gospel tracts were distributed to those in attendance, with instructions that they pray over the tracts and then give them to someone God brought to mind.
The three rooms at the Fulton Street church were filled beyond capacity, and hundreds had to go to other places. By early February a nearby Methodist Church was opened, and it immediately overflowed. The balconies were filled with ladies. By March 19 a theatre opened for prayer, and half an hour before it was time to begin, people were turned away. Hundreds stood outside in the streets because they could not get inside. By the end of March over six thousand people met daily in prayer gatherings in New York City. Many churches added evening services for prayer. Soon there were 150 united prayer meetings each day across Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Meetings began in February in Philadelphia. Soon Jayne’s Hall was overfilled, and meetings were held at noon each day in public halls, concert halls, fire stations, houses, and tents. The whole city exuded a spirit of prayer.
Our News
At last Sunday’s service our newcomers included Zadie from Kenya; Israel from Nigeria; Immaculate from Cameroon; Chester from the UK; Anna from Ukraine; and Johnrel and Joney from the Philippines.
This coming Sunday (5 February) will see our Annual Conference to be held right after the service. Your attendance is requested to find out more about what we have done and where we are going, as a church. If you are an official member of WIC, you are especially asked to attend the Conference. If you can’t make it for any reason, please fill out the Proxy Form below and return it to us immediately:
Proxy Authorization
Warsaw International Church
Annual Congregational Meeting
Date: …… February 2023
I/we cannot be present at the Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday February 5th, 2023. I am giving my proxy for that meeting to:
Essayas Techane, the presiding officer, to vote according to the Church Council recommendations.
Or
………………………………………….. who will represent me at the meeting.
Yours truly,
Name/s : …………………………………
Return to president@wic.org.pl or admin@wic.org.pl
Annual Conference and Pledge Form
WIC’s Annual Conference will be held on 5 February. From our Treasurer, Piotr Dypczyński:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Each year, during our Fall Stewardship campaign, we invite our members and regular worshippers to make a commitment of their time and financial resources to enable WIC to do God’s work. Both contributions are important.
Self-supporting Churches, such as ours, are possible because friends and members voluntarily help and pay the bills. Some volunteers help with worship, prepare fellowship events, or serve on the Council. Volunteers are the builders of our Church community.
The Council will work on our budget for 2023 with expenses in the current range of 69,000 PLN. This is the modest budget needed to meet the operational needs of the Church as it functions now. Over the next few Sundays we will be asking you to consider the financial resources you can commit to WIC in the coming year to help us meet this budget, if not exceed it. We are proud of our unique 39-year history and feel that WIC has a lot yet to accomplish in doing God’s work.
Please consider prayerfully what you are able to commit to WIC for the year 2023. Every commitment counts. Annual pledges are deeply appreciated.
Pledge forms will be handed out during the next few Sundays and will be collected during the offering. If you cannot attend worship service in the coming weeks please contact the Treasurer Piotr Dypczyński at pledge@wic.org.pl with your pledge.
Thank you for your help in keeping WIC able to share in God’s work. Yours in Christ,
Piotr Dypczyński Church Council Treasurer
And here is the pledge form. Please pray about it, consider what you can contribute (maybe as part of your tithe), fill it in, and return it as indicated above:
WIC Pledge Form 2023
Warsaw International Church
Stewardship Commitment/ Pledge Form
As an expression of my/our love for God and support of His work
through the ministry of WIC, I/we make the following commitment to
support the work of the Church.
Currency: PLN / USD / EUR / ____
Amount: _
For the calendar year 2023
Amount: ____ every: week / month / quarter in 2023
Note to the Treasurer ___
Name: ___
Email: ___
Phone: ___ Signed: ____
Taxpayers may claim credit for their contributions to WIC.
We are registered in the Polish record of Churches and Religious
Associations – in position 132. Polish contributions for tax
deductions must be made by bank transfer.
Polish bank transfers to:
Warsaw International Church
ul. Willowa 1, 00-789 Warszawa
Bank account: PL 63 1090 1056 0000 0000 0600 9128
SWIFT code: WBKPPLPP
Santander Bank Polska S.A. with its registered office in Warsaw,
al. Jana Pawła II 17, 00-854 Warszawa
WIC Video
A video has been recorded promoting WIC, its pastor and his life story, and some secrets of what makes a marriage work and leads to happiness. It is in Polish but with English subtitles, so everyone can understand what’s being said. Please don’t hesitate to use it as an evangelizing or counselling tool. The link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFojH1Efe5E
Christian Films
Watch wonderful free Christian films of hope and encouragement! They include films about the life of Jesus, testimonies of Christians who have suffered persecution, and excellent cartoon films for both children and adults on Christian spiritual reformers and missionaries. The link is: https://www.vm1.tv/
Outreach Flyer
WIC’s street evangelists use, among others, this flyer which you might also want to print out (change the format as you wish) and distribute to friends and strangers in your home area:
Why Do We Suffer?
The world is witnessing a terrible conflict in the heart of Europe, and many are asking: if there is a God, why does He allow such horrible suffering and cruelty? Well, God gives us free will, but we all turn from Him and fall into sin: “There is no one righteous, not even one (…). All have turned away” (Romans 3:10 and 12). The suffering in the world is the result of sin. Have you ever told a lie, or stolen something, or judged or got angry with someone? Then you too are a sinner against a holy God. Can you be saved? How?
Many people say that, because God is merciful, He will simply forgive us our sins! But God is not only merciful, He is also just – and the penalty for our sins must be paid. Think of a man in court, who owes a large sum of money but cannot repay it. He begs the judge for mercy. The judge is a merciful person, but the debt must somehow be repaid. The only thing the judge can do is take out his cheque book, make out a cheque for the amount owed, and repay the man’s debt out of his own pocket.
But this is exactly what God has done for us! He came to earth as a sinless man – Jesus Christ – to pay our debt, by dying for us on a cross and paying the price for our sins, so that we can be forgiven and saved: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). There is no other way God can rescue us from eternal death because of our sins. Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
So we see that God has potentially already saved us! This is the Good News of Jesus Christ! When Jesus died for you, He took away the punishment for your sins by taking them upon Himself. Then He rose from the dead to give you eternal life. But you must activate your salvation by believing in what Jesus has already done, putting your faith and trust in Him alone – otherwise your salvation is worth nothing, like a present which is never opened. Pray sincerely: “Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I thank You for forgiving me and saving me on the cross. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Saviour from now on. Amen.” Then find a church to join, where you will grow in the love of Christ. For the first time, let the Lord build your house!
Prayer
Please pray for Jen, the sister of one of our worshippers, who fell in the bathroom recently and broke her jaw. Pray for the Lord’s healing touch to bring about her swift recovery.
Let us pray for a Hindu student whose Indian friend was murdered in Warsaw last week. She is shattered and scared by this horrible news. Please pray for her to open her heart to Jesus – the only God and Saviour who loves her.
A tenement house in Katowice was completely destroyed by a gas explosion last week, in which a woman and her daughter died, and many others had to be pulled from the debris and taken to hospital. The house belonged to the Polish Lutheran Church and the church building was right next to it. The house was also the location of the parish offices. Many people in the building have lost all their possessions. This is a huge tragedy for the Lutheran community in Katowice and the whole city is in shock. Please remember those affected in your prayers.
WIC’s Annual Conference will be held this Sunday (5 February). This is our annual occasion for reporting on what has happened over the past year, our financial situation, vision and plans for the future, the election of a new Church Council, and for all participants to put forward their comments and suggestions. Please pray that it will be a meaningful conference which will inspire our whole church.
Last Sunday’s sermon was preached by Pastor Harry on how we react when Jesus comes to us as a guest (Luke 10:38-42 and 14:7-11)
Both our readings today are about being guests. The first reading consists of Jesus’ words about how we should behave when we are guests at someone else’s place. And the second reading is about how we should behave when Jesus comes to us as a guest. In fact, what does it mean to be a guest?
Well actually, first of all, we have to do one very important thing if we want to be a guest: we have to accept an invitation! That seems obvious. But if you remember, Jesus devotes a whole parable to that. A man sends out invitations to his banquet, but all the guests make excuses not to come. So the master gets very angry, and invites all the poor people from off the street instead – and those who were originally invited don’t get to taste the banquet at all. The story shows us that many of those invited to come to Jesus will reject Him. Sadly, they will miss out on the Kingdom of Heaven.
The fascinating thing is that we may be invited to come to Jesus when we least expect it, and then a quick and definite response from us is necessary. The true story was told to me about how a prisoner came to Jesus. He used to tear out pages from his Bible, to roll his cigarettes. But one day, as he tore out another page, he suddenly read the words: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” At that moment, Jesus was inviting the prisoner – or you could say that Jesus had come to be his guest! The prisoner was so affected that he immediately received Christ into his heart. But theoretically he could have refused Jesus, and would not have been saved, at least not on that occasion.
Jesus teaches us that, when we are somebody’s guest, we are to be humble and take the lowest place. Not like my sister-in-law! Whenever she visits anyone, she makes sure she is the centre of attention! There are some people like that. But we are to be humble guests – not pushy. And Jesus is also such a humble guest. When He comes to you, it’s not in a great limousine, or accompanied by an orchestra. It’s more like a still, small voice – and if you’re full of your own pride and your own affairs, you could easily fail to hear Him.
Two weeks ago, Ania and I got bad news on the same day, from two friends who are not believers – but how different they were in their reactions! First, my colleague from work at the translation agency wrote to say she had stomach cancer, and would have to have surgery. But her attitude, as a defiant atheist, was typical of her: “I’m going to crush that cancer!”, she wrote. I replied to her: “Ewa – you versus cancer is going to be a difficult fight. But you plus faith versus cancer is a much better proposition”.
Then, two hours later, another colleague – Magda – called us to say her mother had died. We had been good friends with her mother, and in fact we had led the mother to Christ. We went over to see Magda, who was alone now and needed our support. And Magda, who seems never to have thought much about God before, suddenly began to ask all sorts of questions about the Bible and faith – to such an extent that she asked me to say a few words at the funeral. And so I was able to briefly preach the Gospel to 20 or 30 Catholics or atheists.
Think about the differences between these two cases. Notice that Jesus very often comes to us in an unexpected crisis – more like a thief in the night than a guest, in fact. Both Ewa and Magda were suddenly facing a crisis. Yet Ewa decided to fight the evil on her own, without turning to God for help. But Magda, in her distress, opened up to the Lord – and I’m sure that story isn’t over yet. Yes, the circumstances were dramatic in both cases. But Jesus, our guest, doesn’t force Himself on anyone. He comes to us, gently and quietly, when we get into difficulties. But we are always free not to receive Him into our hearts – to our great loss.
And Jesus came as a guest to Martha and Mary. There was no crisis here – He was just paying them a visit. But again, look how differently they reacted. Mary devoted all her attention to Jesus, and forgot about everything else. So who was left to prepare the dinner? – Martha! And Martha was angry and frustrated that she had been left all alone, to do the cooking. It’s understandable.
Understandable – and yet undesirable. How often have we been in the same situation? Very often, I would say. How often have I felt that God is calling me to pray, at home – and yet I’ve postponed it, because I still wanted to do a few other things first. We say “business before pleasure”. I always want to get the business out of the way first, before concentrating on the pleasure of being alone with God in prayer. But by the time I’m ready to pray, the inspiration has gone. Jesus has stopped knocking at my door, and has walked sadly away. Evan Roberts, the praying man behind the Welsh Revival, said that if God prompts us to pray, we should leave everything else and pray immediately – because that’s when Jesus is at your door. But we’re so busy with our own affairs and worries, that we simply disregard this Guest who wants to be with us. You see, Jesus didn’t come round to Martha and Mary’s house just for a meal. He came primarily to teach. The meal could have waited till later.
Brothers and Sisters, when Jesus comes to you, it doesn’t always mean that good times are guaranteed if you let Him in. He came to the disciples. They decided to follow Him straight away – but it meant leaving their family and their security behind. They could easily have rejected Him, like many people do.
Even Peter rejected Jesus. That was a crisis situation. Jesus had been arrested, and Peter’s life was also in danger. Peter could have let Jesus into his heart. But instead, he denied Him, to save his own life: “I don’t know this man Jesus”, he said. And he was filled with guilt and shame.
But if you do let Jesus into your heart, the opposite will happen. Life could be hard – but miracles will occur. When Jesus then tells you to cast your net out to sea, what will happen? Your net will be overflowing with fish – or maybe people. You will be blessed.
Next time life gets hard for you, remember: Jesus is using the situation to be your guest. He died for you on the cross – so He’s not going to leave you alone, is He? Your crisis is His opportunity. Don’t be like my friend Ewa, who wants to win her battle all on her own. Trust in Jesus – and then you will be safe in Him. Amen.
Sermon points
Jesus Christ may come to be our guest when we least expect it.
He comes to us especially in a crisis.
He comes gently and quietly, and awaits our response.
We need Him to win our battles.
But we often reject Him and miss out on His blessings because our business and worries are more important to us.
Your difficult situation is your opportunity to welcome Christ into your life.
Readings and Hymns for the 5 February service
Verse for the week: “We are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Theme: Who do you represent?
Psalm: 23
Reading: James 1:19-27
Offering verse: “Deuteronomy 16:17: “Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you”.
Please be informed that your Data Administrator within the meaning of Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation, ”GDPR”), is Warsaw International Church with its registered office in Warsaw (00-789) at ul. Willowa 1.